California is Burning

Yes, God bless them.
And please take care of yourselves too.

How to protect yourself against wildfire smoke
Nov. 15, 2018

Spoiler

* Stay indoors as much as possible, with the windows closed.

* Refrain from vigorous activities that would increase your rate of breathing and intake of air pollutants.

* Wear a N95 or P100 respirator mask when you’re outside. They can substantially reduce your intake of fine particles when worn properly (fitted to your face with two straps).

* If you have a continuous ventilation system in your home, such as an exhaust fan in the laundry room, turn it off.

* If you have a central forced air system, use it in “fan on” mode.

* Check or change air filters in your home, usually located at the return grille or air unit. MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value) is the industry rating system used by many filter manufacturers. The higher the number, the stronger the filtration. See a list of Berkeley Lab’s recommended filters here.

* Consider getting a portable air purifier for your home. They work best in a room that is closed off from other parts of the house, like a bedroom, where you can create a “clean air zone.” For large spaces and open floor plans, use multiple units. When picking a purifier, look for Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR), a measure of how many cubic feet of clean air the device produces each minute. It’s recommended that an air purifier has a CADR of at least two-thirds of the room’s square footage: a 120-square-foot room should have an air purifier with a CADR of 80 or above. The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers has a searchable directory of purifiers that includes CADR data.

* If you’re driving in a car, set the ventilation to recirculation mode at medium or high. If the air quality seems to be getting worse, turn it off.

* If you’re looking to get indoors, San Francisco has designated several air shelters. They are: San Francisco Main Public Library (100 Larkin St.), Mission Bay Library (960 Fourth St.), Westfield San Francisco Centre mall (865 Market St.), Chinatown Branch Library (1135 Powell St.) and Glen Park Branch Library (2825 Diamond St.).​

FYI: https://www.airvisual.com/earth

​

 

Many thanks for taking the time to share all of that, @GIGO . Mrs. B-Bob used to ask me "why do you spend time with a bunch of strangers on a basketball site?" But she gets it now.

Local air readings around 270 ppm right now, rated "very unhealthy," I think. We are mainly sheltering in place. The air in the home isn't too bad yet, and a filtering system will arrive today. We're lucky that we have a kind of airlock with a glassed in front porch, whenever we do have to leave or enter. My university is closed, classes all cancelled.

And to think I tried to move my elderly parents out here to the central valley. SMDH. This air has to be horrible especially for older people.

EDIT: the odd thing is that you can feel that you having a low-level poisoning from the stuff. My brain isn't working in its normal way (if it can be said to have a normal way, jokes aside). I spill things, etc. Blech.

 

People are dying, losing their homes. Good thing you think it's funny.

EDIT: But then I go back in the thread a bit and see this. Maybe you're just being flippant.

 

Not to divert attention from what is going on now, but if anyone wants a pretty good explanation of how these fires can rage out of control so quickly, there's a book called "The Big Burn." It's about a fire that occurred in Idaho (and Washington? Montana?) about 100 years ago. A lot has changed in ways to fight fires (airplanes dropping water and whatnot) but many methods remain the same, and of course the way a fire spreads so quickly and can surround and consume........yeah, the whole thing is scary and depressing.

I just hope that those people unaccounted for are sitting safe somewhere and don't add to the death toll.

 

@B-Bob , hard to "like" your posts about the fires these days, but I have been reading them steadily. Hope things are going as well as possible for you and your friends and colleagues.

 

Please wait for the facts to be released before making this statement. The company reported that there was sparks coming from high-voltage (115kV) lines but they also reported that the section where they were coming from had been shut down. No evidence has been released yet, but it's entirely possible that the equipment was shut down prior to the fire. The investigations are still ongoing and nothing concrete has been released yet. It's all speculation at this point.

 

Hope you drink lots of water. Also it might be a good idea to order a pack of respirator masks from Amazon. Stay strong guys.

 

That is very fair. But I think it more likely than not. We will find out, I hope, and with an eye to preventing other fires of this magnitude, if that's possible.

 

The missing list just shot up to over 600 - confirmed dead is currently at 66, but is sure to rise significantly.

 

The houses were too close together, the fuel (homes) was aligned with topography, and the homes were not built to be fire friendly. This was a fire society created, not nature. If you look at the before pic, if you know fire likes to go uphill, and if you know it was built in an environment where fire comes in regular intervals, you would know that it is a bad place to put people. And just look at the limited access points.

Edit: It cannot be said enough. This was November, not mid-August.

 

I've heard via radio that they're going to have to do a lot of DNA tests with nearest relatives. Some of the remains are way beyond being able to even identify via teeth.

Deceased up over 70 now. Fluctuating "missing" list over 1,000 tonight.

 

Man, I hope you and yours are all ok, friends and family and whatnot.

Seems like there is some disaster about every week or 2.

 

Thanks. We don't know anyone on the missing list. That's an absurd # of missing people, kind of like right after Katrina. We do know some asthmatics and they're having a tough time around here. It's interesting, but the best bet, you learn, is to have a two story house and stay indoors, upstairs.

Locally, in the house, we have some relief. Have an air purifier now. Can tell the difference. If I fart near it, its little indicator turns red for "very polluted," so it knows what's what.

 

That might be one of the most impactful photos I’ve ever seen. Honestly at a loss for words.

@B-Bob...stay safe and stay inside.

 

Trump suggests we aren't "doing things" like raking. #rimrocker

Rake America Great Again



Love when he suggests what other countries do when he needs to criticize someone here. Make America Great Again by Doing Things like Europe.

 

Really good article on how it started. Firefighters saw it right away (and it started within 10 minutes of a utility malfunction report, right where the malfunction was noted). But it was on an incredibly steep slope, and the firefighters couldn't get to it when it was small.

http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-camp-fire-tictoc-20181118-story.html

LA Times is easily (to me) the best newspaper on the west coast. Low bar, I know.

 

A city should be 20-40 trees per acre, a forest around 40-60 acres. Paradise, CA is 200 tees in an acre.

"Instead, it has been business as usual despite the fact that California is seeing larger, more frequent and more destructive fires, said Moritz and other fire science experts. Half of the 20 most destructive fires in California have occurred in the past 10 years, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection"

Trump is an idiot on a lot of issues, but Cali forestry he nailed it. Part of my family is going to suffer from bad air for couple days. They need to have a fire plan like we have a hurricane plan. Before Hurricane Ike we didn't have an emergency counter-flow freeway plan (which is now adopted in case of hurricanes). I literally saw mass of cars stuck on the freeway on I-45 North for half a day, it was like apocalypse that I'll never forget. CA needs to have better tree management, emergency plans.

 

You don't think overdevelopment + extended droughts from global warming are the main cause of this? The best prevention is actually... prevention. Don't build where you shouldn't. Put a cap on population limits for a state considering all it's natural issues.

 

I agree with global warming, but CA has a history of preserving nature and strict on cutting trees. Paradise, CA could of been avoided if they had an emergency plan. Remember when we had the Trump Emergency Alert, it was nonsense to many, but it would of saved many lives if it was in operation. I doubt Paradise has a contingency plan. CA has a history of low humidity and wind which is a catalyst for fire, they should already know where to build and where not to. Only $ is more important than safety to the home builders. Pacific Gas Electric is in a no win situation, they cut trees get sue and they cause fire get sue. CA needs to redo their forestry managment. When I retire, i may not see a penny from my social security retirement benefits.

https://www.sacbee.com/latest-news/article219315140.html

http://www.goldenstatenewspapers.co...cle_748d5e14-bc53-11e8-b38c-87a33c1b09b1.html